Notts County 0-1 Port Vale- Match Report

Vale clip Magpies' wingsMark Marshall maintained Port Vale's hopes of gate-crashing the League One play-off race as his goal sealed a 1-0 win at a Notts County side in free fall.The winger capitalised on an awful mix-up between the Magpies' two most experienced players as defender Mike Edwards and goalkeeper Roy Carroll collided in the seventh minute.From there on in, Notts responded magnificently and through the brilliance of Paddy McCourt created several chances.The best of which fell to Garry Thompson who was played in by the Northern Ireland international but failed to produce enough contact to level up the scores.Vale were holding on by the skin of their teeth as Liam Noble fluffed another chance soon afterwards with just goalkeeper Chris Neal to beat.Notts continued to push for an equaliser and in the second half Noble again came close with a header while Thompson saw a smart flick saved by Neal.Vale's threat grew as the second half wore on and Marshall wasted another good chance through a defensive mix-up.But it did not prove costly as Vale claimed an important three points while the Magpies slipped to a ninth defeat in the last dozen league matches